There’s no excuse for drinking and driving – and it’s definitely not something to brag about. | Source: Shutterstock.com

I trust that all of you know that drinking and driving is dangerous. You understand the irreversible consequences that can occur from getting behind the wheel intoxicated.

While individually we know this (in addition to the fact that underage drinking at all is illegal), I’m going to guess that a number of you have a friend who doesn’t seem to think driving drunk is that big of a concern.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Liberty Mutual surveyed high school junior and seniors about driving under the influence. Twenty-three percent admitted that they had driven under the influence before (whether it be alcohol, pot or illegal prescription drugs), which is pretty scary.

One thing that really stood out to me was that 19 percent of the teens said they thought that driving under the influence of alcohol actually made them better drivers. Like… WHAT?! That’s not only literally dangerous thinking, but it got me thinking about the people I knew in school who would brag about the times they’d driven drunk.

I consulted with other Gurl staffers and they also knew people who claimed to be “really good” at drunk driving – like it was a cool challenge to try. Newsflash: driving while you’re drunk is not cool or impressive. It’s just highly irresponsible. Those people got very lucky.

Not getting caught for something you shouldn’t be doing isn’t something to celebrate. Yes, thank goodness nobody was injured or hurt, but that situation never should have happened to begin with. A sober driver should have been involved.

But what do you say if you have friends bragging about how they drove home drunk the other night? It can be scary to be the one to speak up in a group conversation or confusing to know what to say so that they get the picture.

I’m usually someone who likes to laugh with the best of them, but when I hear someone talk about their drunk driving like it was NBD, I get really serious, real quick. I find it helps to be straight to the point – “That’s really not something to brag about. It’s not funny and it’s super dangerous.” Another thing you can do is research some specific statistics to really prove your point.

Sometimes when I say this, people give me a hard time or roll their eyes at me. Unfortunately, you can only do so much to change a person’s mind about something. That’s especially frustrating when you know their actions could hurt them or others. Still, at least I can tell myself I’m doing my part by reminding them about the consequences and hoping it made an impact. If they ever make a joke about it again, I’d repeat my same stance.

Seriously, drinking and driving do not mix. Ever. | Source: Shutterstock.com

If you’re in a group, I can guarantee you’re probably not the only one thinking, “What the hell is this person bragging about this for?!” It can be scary to stand up to someone, especially if its a friend of yours. There’s a good chance that when others see you not backing down, they’ll feel more comfortable swooping in to support you. Hopefully it can be an instance where peer pressure actually helps this person realize that their actions have been dangerous and unwise.

If you feel like this is happening with a lot of your friends or you’re not really getting through to them, there may be even bigger steps you can take. One thing you could do is work with your student council or guidance department to put together a presentation for your school that can really showcase the dangers.

Sometimes having a speaker who was personally affected by drunk driving come talk or hearing new statistics can be what makes a person truly realize the dangers. Being an advocate for greater education about drunk driving’s consequences can help those friends and the entire community get on the right track.

So while I know it can be a tough situation, don’t be afraid to speak up and speak from the heart whenever you hear someone bragging about something like this. I hope your friends come to realize that you are doing it from a place of caring and concern for everyone’s safety.

Bringing up the dangers of drunk driving might seem like a “buzzkill” thing to do in these situations, but believe me - it’s a thousand percent better than having someone get killed because of your friend’s risky actions.

Have you ever had a friend brag about drunk driving? What did you do? What advice do you have for someone whose friend may talk about driving drunk? Tell us in the comments!

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